The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), supported by China, will meet for the first time in five years in October to discuss adding new members and improving trade flows, as stated by Malaysia’s trade minister.
Malaysia will host the summit during the annual gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur. The RCEP includes all ten ASEAN members and countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
The last official leaders’ meeting was in November 2020, which resulted in a trade deal to lower tariffs and enhance investment and goods movement.
Analysts see the RCEP as a way to counter U. S. tariffs enforced during Donald Trump’s presidency. The upcoming meeting will likely coincide with Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit. Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz indicated that member countries could propose changes to the trade deal and consider requests to join the bloc.
He expressed confidence that the meeting would not be dominated by China, as all members support multilateralism. Trump’s tariffs, imposing rates of 10% to 40% on Asian goods, will also be a key topic at the ASEAN ministers’ gathering, attended by U. S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
With information from Reuters